Bullock teachers, parents swinging for the fences

B.T. Bullock Principal Pamela Sutton (left) and school PTO President Elizabeth Stone arrange some of the gift baskets that will be up for auction in a fundraiser Nov. 1 to build a baseball field at the school.

Will Doran

Along with gift baskets and other items, there will be pots, plates and stools made by different classes at B.T. Bullock Elementary School up for auction at a Nov. 1 fundraiser for a baseball field on campus.

SANFORD —

Just after the World Series ends later this month, people in Lee County will have the chance to grant the baseball dreams of one local school.

The parent-teacher organization at B.T. Bullock Elementary School is holding an auction at 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 1 at the school gym in hopes of raising the $7,000 or so needed to put in a diamond and backstop in an empty field on campus. The entire community is invited to come to the auction, which will include school-specific arts and crafts made by each class, as well as general interest items like beach trips, jewelry, furniture and more. There's even a donkey up for grabs, donated by Elizabeth Stone, the school's PTO president, and her husband.

Stone is heading up the efforts along with Principal Pamela Sutton, both of whom said a school without a ball field just feels a little off.

"We were talking earlier today about how growing up, everybody played team sports," Sutton said Monday. "But these days, so many kids have never played team sports like baseball before, and they just don't know how."

Sutton said games like dodgeball are banned because of their possibly dangerous nature, so having a space for children to play less aggressive team sports is important. Stone agreed, saying that adding the field would also help get the kids in better shape by giving them a place to get a large game organized during recess instead of possibly just lounging and talking with friends.

"It's not only [baseball]," Stone said. "If we have the baseball field, you can play kickball; you can play anything. See, all we have now is an empty field. ... It's something to get the kids up and moving, you know? It'll be something to do instead of just sitting all the time."

She also said that judging by all the donations the PTO has received for the auction from local businesses, she gets the feeling the community sees this as something that will definitely be positive — even though the field won't be open to the public, just to students at the school.

"There's a lot of people who love baseball," she said,

And if the auction — which will be a live auction conducted by Jerry Harris Auctions — goes well, Sutton said, there's a chance the field could even be up and ready for students by the time the major leaguers are getting into spring training.

"It depends on the fundraising," Sutton said. "But yes, if we get the $7,000, it could be done very quickly. Sometime this year."

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What: Auction to raise money for a baseball field at B.T. Bullock Elementary School